No Good Deed - Marie Sexton Page 0,40
and dove in.
“My name isn’t really Jay.”
Avery’s eyebrows lowered, his forehead wrinkling in confusion. He seemed amused by the entire thing. “Why would you lie to us about your name?”
“Because I’m not just Charlie’s boyfriend.” He took a deep breath. “My name is Jonas. And I’m Gray’s ex.”
The world seemed to stop. Around them, the bar patrons still talked and drank and laughed. On the TVs, the game went on. But Jonas felt isolated—trapped, even—at that wooden picnic table as he waited for Avery’s reaction.
Avery sat back, stunned, all trace of amusement gone from his face in the blink of an eye. “You’re Jonas?”
“I am.”
“The Jonas who— who— who—” He seemed to not know how to finish the question, and Jonas nodded.
“Yes. That Jonas.”
“Does Gray know?”
“Charlie should be telling him as we speak. But I wanted you to hear it from me. If there’s any chance of us being friends—”
“Friends?” Avery jumped up from the table, backing way. “Are you kidding?”
“You know how close Charlie and Gray are.”
“Sure, but now Charlie’s dating Gray’s ex?” He threw up his arms, turning in a nervous circle as if he wanted to walk away, but didn’t dare. “Are you shitting me?” River, seeing his dismay, headed his way, but Avery held up a hand, and River stopped, his eyebrows raised in confusion.
Avery turned back to Jonas. “What do you want me to say? That I’m happy to meet you? Because I don’t think I am. Maybe I should be, but I’m not.”
“I know this is awkward,” Jonas said, keeping his voice calm even though his heart was pounding. “But it doesn’t have to be.”
Avery took a deep breath and let it out. He took another, running his shaking fingers through his bright purple hair. “Jesus. Okay.” A third breath, and he let it go. “It’s funny, actually. I was talking to somebody here earlier today, and they told me that Churchill once said it takes courage to stand up and speak, but it also takes courage to sit down and listen. Did you know that?”
“No, I didn’t.”
Avery took one more deep breath, then settled back on the bench, his hands clutched tightly together on the table in front of him. “Okay. I’m listening.”
“I’m not here to cause trouble between you and Gray,” Jonas said, because that had to be Avery’s number one concern. “I’m not trying to win him back. I don’t still love him. I’m not sure I ever loved him at all, to be honest. And I think if you asked him, he’d say the same thing about me.” It still hurt a bit to admit it, but it was true. “He loved Phil more than he ever loved me.”
Avery lowered his eyes but didn’t argue. Jonas had a feeling he’d already had this conversation with Gray.
“The thing is,” Jonas went on, “I’m crazy about Charlie. I have been for years, and I’m tired of denying it. He and I are good together. And Charlie’s awfully fond of Gray.”
Avery nodded, his gaze still on the tabletop between them. “You’ve been together all this time? Ever since they broke up?”
“No! No, I just got back into town. I came here to donate a kidney. None of that was a lie. But we didn’t want to hide anymore. And even though I know it’ll be hard at first, there’s no reason for you and I not to be friends. Eventually, I hope you’ll think of me as Charlie’s partner, not Gray’s ex.” He glanced pointedly over at Taylor and River, who were still at the bar, but watching Jonas and Avery closely, as if fearing they’d have to step in at any moment. “I’d like to be one of you, like Taylor said. But I think it has to start with us. With you and me. Because any animosity between us will create trouble between Gray and Charlie.” He pointed at River and Taylor. “Any trouble between you and me will spread to them, and from them, to Warren and Phil. And if that happens, the whole group falls apart.” He searched Avery’s face, trying to gauge his reaction. “And I don’t think any of us wants that to happen.”
Avery finally met his eyes, but Jonas couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
“The old group…” Jonas shook his head, chuckling. “It was awful. The subs could barely stand each other. But the three of you seem to have a really close bond.”
Avery nodded. “We do.”
“I don’t want to mess with that. Honestly, I’d love